The health care debate and the GOP

The health care debate has devolved into posturing on one side and avoidance on the other, but two facts remain: in order to keep the nation solvent, health care — particularly the presently government funded pieces — must be rethought; and by sheer force of will the Democrats can muster the votes to press some type of reform through within the next two years.

The words and actions of the GOP, not the protesters but the elected officials, have gone beyond marginalizing the party to essentially removing the Republican opinion from the sausage-making for whatever bill does hit the floor and pass. Remarks like Senator Chuck Grassley’sreiterating Sarah Palin’s outrageous scare tactics give Democrats the ability to ignore someone who should be a strong advocate for the GOP at the committee level.

The end result is some version of health care reform is very likely to pass before the midterm election in 2010, and that reform bill will contain very few, or more likely zero, Republican fingerprints.

It’s great for an opposition party to oppose the policies from across the aisle. It’s a lot better for the opposition party to challenge and improve those policies.

From the first link:

Given hardening Republican opposition to Congressional health care proposals, Democrats now say they see little chance of the minority’s cooperation in approving any overhaul, and are increasingly focused on drawing support for a final plan from within their own ranks.

Top Democrats said Tuesday that their go-it-alone view was being shaped by what they saw as Republicans’ purposely strident tone against health care legislation during this month’s Congressional recess, as well as remarks by leading Republicans that current proposals were flawed beyond repair.